The head of Polish army intelligence, General Marek Dukaczewski, told a news conference in Warsaw that Polish soldiers purchased the 17 rockets and two mortar shells filled with chemicals in late June from unidentified individuals in south-central Iraq.

Poland said tests conducted by U.S. experts showed they contained cyclosarin -- most likely left over from Iraq's war with Iran in the 1980s.

But the U.S. military says only two of the rockets had tested positive for sarin gas.